Inside the Mind of Fang
by KarleeRay
Summary: This is School's Out Forever from Fang's point of view. Ever wonder what was going on inside the mind of our painstakingly quiet, irresistibly sexy, mysterious favorite teenage bird boy? What was Fang really feeling when the flock stayed with Anne, when they went to school? When did Fang's feelings for Max begin to change? Re-live your favorite book from a whole new perspective.
1. Chapter 1

**SUMMARY: Ever wonder what was really going on inside the head of our painstakingly quiet, irresistibly sexy, intriguingly mysterious favorite teenage bird boy? What wheels were really turning in Fang's head when the flock stayed at Anne's? What was he thinking when he realized his best friend had been replaced by a clone? When did his feelings for his best friend begin to change? This is Maximum Ride School's Out Forever from Fang's point of view. Oh boy. It's about to get interesting.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. That honor goes to the almighty JP… Though I wouldn't mind owning Fang for an hour or two ;)**

I've never even tried to explain to someone what it's like to soar thousands of feet in the air. It would be pointless. You could never truly understand unless you had done it yourself. And no, I'm not talking about being in an airplane. It's not the same. I'm talking about truly soaring, with only the wings grafted into your back to carry you. Words would never do it justice, but I will say this. If you think you've experienced the best things that life has to offer, if you think you're an adrenaline junkie who has seen it all, you're dead wrong buddy. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could compare to flying. It's one of the only things that makes everything we experienced when we were younger, the utter hell that we went through (which is something else that I could never explain), a tad bit worthwhile.

I looked around at the people that I call my family, even though we share no blood whatsoever ( besides Angel and Gazzy but you already knew that). We were going strong despite hours of flight. It was easy to forget at times like this that Angel was only six, the Gasman only eight. They were just troupers. Then again, what choice did they have? We, bird kids, well let's just say there was never any time to be a kid. We grew up hard, and we grew up quick.

"Oh my gosh!" Gazzy pointed off into the distance, but I didn't bother to follow his line of sight. I knew this drill all too well. "A UFO!"

I glanced over in time to see Max's face take on a look of exaggerated patience. She was trying, but even leaders had their limits.

"That was funny the first fifty times, Gazzy," She said. "It's getting old."

Gazzy laughed, not bothered at all that nobody found the joke funny anymore. He clearly did, and that was all that mattered to him.

Distantly, I could hear conversation between Nudge and Max but I wasn't paying much attention to the words being exchanged. I fell back slightly so that I could examine Max, not in a stalkerish way obviously, more like in a my-best-friend-just-killed-her-possibly-half-broth er-and-I'm-a-little-bit-worried kind of way.

She was holding Total in her arms, but that wasn't what was throwing her flying off. I knew better.

Without thinking, I increased my coasting speed so that I was flying beside her. "You okay?" I asked shortly.

She didn't say anything at first, but I stared with silent persistence. She gave a slight huff, and then, "In what way? Can you be more specific?"

I knew she had a lot of issues, had a lot going on inside that genetically enhanced mind of hers, but I also knew that she knew exactly what I was talking about. I saw no reason to avoid stating the obvious, especially not with her, not with Max. "Killing Ari," I said in a steady voice.

I could practically see her walls come up around her, could see her face do a complete shutdown. To anyone else, she looked completely blank. But me, I knew her way too well. I could see the wheels turning in her head, and I felt a twinge. See, the thing was, I left Max and the flock down in the subway tunnels, under her own orders, yes , and for good reason, yes, but part of me couldn't help feel a tad bit guilty. Maybe if I was there, things wouldn't have gotten so serious. I frowned, thinking back to the beach when Ari had gotten the better of me, when Max had, well I hadn't really done much thinking about that.

"It was you or him," I said finally, seeing the battle waging on inside her head. "I'm glad you picked you." And I was. In fact, I was glad Ari was dead, and I didn't care if that made me a horrible person. Ari's presence put the only people on this messed up planet that meant something to me in danger. Max had done what I couldn't. Max had done what needed to be done, even if she didn't know it yet.

We coasted in silence for a while, and I took the time to think about all the things that had happened to us recently. Like say, getting attacked numerous times by erasers in a city way too big for them to track us so easily, or rescuing the youngest member of our flock from the gates of Hell, or, in my case, getting kissed by my best friend. Admittedly, the kiss was probably heat of the moment. Ari almost killed me, Max was overcome with relief that I was alive, blah, blah, blah. To be honest, I hadn't really thought that much about it, not because it wasn't important, but because it was too bogus, too out of left field for me to even comprehend, and that's saying something. I'll put it this way. My life has been a load of ups and downs, which means that my family is the only thing I have ever regarded as a constant. Max kissing me could throw everything off. Next thing you know, instead of worrying about what the whitecoats have in store for me, I'm worrying about what Max has up her sleeve. It was just… whatever. Out of sight, out of mind.

"Do you want me to take him?" Angel asked Max, nodding her head toward the tiny black dog in her arms. It was Angel's dog, after all. She should have to carry it a little bit.

"No that's okay," Max answered. I glanced at her, watched her face lighten a shade and had only a second to brace myself. "I know. Fang will take him," She chirped, already moving so that she was hovering over me. She lifted Total out of her arms and managed to lower him down into mine. "Here. Have a dog." A smug look creeped over her face, and I kind of wanted to smack it right off.

I gritted my teeth as Total happily licked my cheek, mentally cursing the day I had agreed to let Angel keep him.

We flew in content silence after that, Max leading the way, and I was glad that we could just _be_, for once, be alive, be together, be safe. It was a nice change, but I wasn't stupid enough to think it could ever last.

**Reviews=love. Pretty please. You know you want to.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello beautiful people! I present to you, Chapter 2! Fight scene! Enjoy. Reviews make the world go round.**

"Look at this, kids, we're learning geography!" I called sarcastically, feigning excitement and giddiness, which are two things I assure you I don't feel very often. On that note, I'm not sure I have ever felt giddy in my life, so maybe that was just bad word choice on my part.

We were getting really close to DC, and I wasn't sure what that would mean for us. Was this really it? Was this where we found our real families, said our goodbyes? Or were we naïve to ever think it would be that easy? Probably the latter, knowing our lives, but I wouldn't be the one to rain on the younger kids' parade. They were excited; you could see it in their faces. I couldn't blame them either. Angel had said that my mom was a teenager, which was a dagger to my blackened heart in and of itself, but still. To know who you truly belong to, to know where you come from besides just a dog crate or a test tube? Well, that would just be something.

"Fang! What's that? Behind us a ten o'clock." Max's voice pulled me out of my own thoughts, and I swiveled in the direction that she indicated.

I hesitated, puzzled by the big dark cloud heading in our direction. "Too fast for a storm cloud. Too small, too quiet for choppers. Not birds- too lumpy. I give up. What is it?"

"Trouble," Max answered, bitterness dripping off her words. For a moment, she looked just a little bit tired, just a little bit like her heart wasn't in this, and I knew I was the only one who noticed this. Almost instantly, determination flared in her brown eyes. "Angel! Get out of the way! Guys, heads up! We've got company!"

We turned as a group, adrenaline dumping into my veins. My heart begun to pound, my fingers instinctively curling into fists.

"Flying monkeys? Like _The Wizard of Oz_?" Gazzy asked, squinting at the approaching threat.

"No," Max said, and I looked over at her grim face. Worse. _Flying erasers._"

I quickly glanced back out at the mysterious shapes hurtling toward us, had a moment to realize she was right, and then a moment to curse like a sailor in need of a little Jesus. "Erasers, version 6.5," I muttered.

Max began shouting orders, which we all immediately followed. What can I say? She may be a girl, but in Max's case that didn't really mean a damn thing. She was tough as nails, fierce and smart, able to think quickly on her feet. She told us what to do, and we listened because never, not once, had she let us down. Never. "Split up! Nudge! Gazzy! Nine o'clock! Angel, up top. Move it! Iggy and Fang, flank me from below! Fang, ditch the dog!"

I took one look at the opposing threat, knew Max was right. How could I fight with a dog in my arms? Yet I still hesitated.

"Nooo, Fang!" Angel's scream pierced the air. I had only a split second to think, and then it dawned on me. Hello. Backpack. Moving with mutant bird kid speed, I unzipped the backpack strapped onto my back, stuffed Total inside, and looked up just in time to see Max launch herself at the biggest eraser. It was go time.

The flock threw themselves into action, easing into the steady art of street fighting as if we had been doing it since the day we were born, which I guess we sort of had. An eraser came at me clumsily but still at full speed, and I feinted right before shooting my arms out and clapping my hands over his ears. I winced as the eraser screamed loudly and dropped down twenty feet, forgetting to flap. Seeing a big hairy fist come at my face, I surged out of range, and Max quickly took my place, doling out a kick that I knew from personal experience packed an insane amount of strength.

I glanced around quickly. We were holding steady for the most part, and it looked like being in the air might even be an advantage for us. The erasers were too big, too clumsy. Their movements were jerky and forced. We definitely had the upper hand here.

I turned, snapping out a hard side kick at the erasers close to me. He tried to evade it by flapping upward. Rookie mistake. Everyone knew that you drop faster than you rise, even if it felt unnatural. It caught him right in the stomach, and he doubled over in pain.

I heard Max's laugh ring out behind me, and I had enough energy to shake my head in exasperation while at the same time throwing a neat uppercut into an erasers hairy chin. Only Max would be laughing at a time like this.

I took down two more erasers before doing a 360 to check on the flock. Max had an eraser in a lethal headlock. "You better get your guys out of here," She snapped, her face looking fiercely protective as she motioned for Nudge to leave the fight. "We're kicking your hairy butts."

"You're gonna fall now," Angel said calmly, her voice sounding angelic as ever. I watched, intrigued, as Angel stared at the eraser who was doing anything and everything he could to avoid her blue eyes but failing. It was like she had him under a spell. He had enough willpower to understand that something was wrong but not enough to escape her. And just like that, Angel shifted her gaze downward, and the eraser dropped out of the sky, no longer a threat.

"You're getting scary, you know that?" Max joked, but I could tell there was some truth behind her words. I couldn't blame her. It was a little freaky, very useful, but still freaky.

I returned to the fight, bloodlust in my eyes. Every eraser was a threat. Every eraser needed to be eliminated.

In the back of my mind, I was aware of a small explosion, but I felt no fire, no unbearable heat, so I continued in my hand to hand combat, losing myself in complex maneuvers. This was what I was good at. Emoting, getting kissed by best friends, being normal: those things weren't really my forte. Fighting to the death? Now that was something I could handle.

"You… are … a … fridge … with wings," I snarled, swinging punches with my every word. "We're … freaking … ballet… dancers."

I was lost in battle, so lost that it took me a few seconds to register Max's panicked scream. "Fang!"

I had time to think '_uh oh' _before pain, white and hot, bit into my entire side. I ignored that though, wheeling around to face yet another threat.

What the hell? Ari? I was shocked to see him, but my face didn't move at all. I stayed completely blank despite the voice in the back of my head screaming that this wasn't right. Ari was dead. Max had killed him. She had. And yet… here he was, healthy as ever, showing up again and putting my family in harm's way. Fresh anger dumped into my veins, but I wasn't stupid enough to jump into attack mode, not with my side like it was. It would be a struggle to take down Ari, period. The beach scene was proof of that. Now add a gaping side wound to the equation. It would be a lost battle from the start. I would get my revenge though. Mark my words.

I glanced at Max, gauging her reaction. She had a bored expression on her face, like _so what? Ari's back from the dead. Show me something new._ I hid my smirk, knowing how infuriating that look could be when you were the one trying to get a reaction out of her.

The flock slowly began to drift toward each other, regrouping as we watched Ari look around, realize the odds weren't in his favor, and begin to fly clumsily away.

"We'll be back!" He snarled, and I had no doubt that he wasn't lying.

We watched the remaining erasers retreat, my eyes lasering in on Ari himself, looking for signs, looking for anything to tell me that we were wrong. That it was impossible. That it wasn't really him because surely, surely, Ari was not back from the dead. If the whitecoats could achieve that, well, they could achieve just about anything.

"Boy, you just can't kill people like you used to," I said, my voice an emotionless monotone in the silent air.


	3. Chapter 3

**Beautiful people. Its chapter 3, yo. Oh yeah, I wanted to say that if you see parts in my chapters in the future that you don't remember in the book, it's probably because it wasn't in the book. I will be adding in little tid bits of made up stuff, either in place of a chapter that Fang isn't in in the books, or just to add a little something something. **

**Reviews are love.**

**KarleeRay**

There's always an eerily tense calm right after a hard battle. Everyone just stays on pins and needles, high off of too much adrenaline, waiting to see if the threat returns.

My side was burning with intense pain, and it really didn't help that my blood was still pumping way too fast. The whole thing was slightly nauseating, and I thought about how awful it would be to puke from this far up in the air. Talk about embarrassing.

I pressed my lips together, my arm pressed into my side. I could feel Max's steady gaze on me. "I'm fine," I said shortly, leaving no room for question. To be honest, I'd felt worse. No need to get everyone all worried, especially not the younger kids.

"Angel? Gazzy? Nudge? Report," Max commanded, not sounding totally convinced but I guess figuring I was a big boy who could take care of himself. It's about time.

"Leg hurts, but I'm okay," Gazzy said, ever the trouper. He rubbed a tiny fist against a spot on his thigh as if he could rub the bruise away.

"I'm fine," Angel murmured absently, twirling a finger through her dirty hair. "And so are Total and Celeste." Well thank the good Lord the stuffed bear and dog are okay. What would we bird kids be without those two, right?

"I'm okay," said Nudge, sounding more exhausted than any eleven year old should.

"My nose, but no biggie," Iggy said, wiping blood from his face onto his shirt.

"Okay then," Max started. "We're almost to DC, and it should be easy to get lost in another big city. We good to go?"

As we settled into a steady flying pace, I began to feel dizzy. My breath was coming in tiny, uncomfortable gasps. It felt like I couldn't get enough air no matter how hard I tried.

Startled, I glanced down at the arm pressed into my side. Blood was seeping between my fingers, even through my windbreaker. I pressed my lips together as a wave of dizziness passed through me, praying that I wouldn't freaking vomit into thin air. Amazingly, through all of this, I kept my wings moving. I would be fine. When we got to DC, I would check it out. Get it all bandaged up. No need to slow the process of travel.

"So … what was with the flying Erasers?" Iggy asked.

"I'm guessing a new prototype," Max answered, eyes thoughtful. "But man, they're failures. They were having a hard time flying and fighting at the same time." She shook her head, sandy blonde hair whipping in the wind.

"Like they'd just learned to fly, you know?" Nudge added, obviously agreeing. "I mean, compared to hawks, we look clumsy. But compared to those Erasers, we're, like, poetry in motion."

Max smiled affectionately at Nudge, and Nudge grinned back.

"They were bad fliers," Angel said. "And in their minds, they weren't all _Kill the mutants_, like they usually are. They were like _Remember to flap_!" She imitated an Eraser voice, but failed miserably.

Max chuckled, but instantly grew serious again. "Did you pick up on anything else, Angel?"

"You mean besides dead Ari showing up?" Gazzy asked, sounding troubled and bummed. _You and me both kid. You and me both._

"Yeah," Max replied, brow furrowing.

"Well none of them really felt familiar," Angel mused, deep in thought.

After that, I really just tuned out. I couldn't concentrate on the things being said. Their forms began to blur in front of me.

I looked down. God, we had to be close to DC. I would be fine once we landed, got some food, some rest.

I gritted my teeth as I began to fall back a little bit.

'_Man up, Fang,'_ I thought, grimly.

I kept my face impassive for the most part as Max dropped down next to me. Great.

"What's going on?" She demanded, going all Mama Bear on me.

"Nothing," I managed through clenched teeth. I didn't really even have the energy to be annoyed with her.

I didn't look at her either because I knew she was probably seeing right through me the way only she could.

"Fang-" She started, sounding irritated, and I looked at her just in time to watch her eyes land on my side, wet with blood. Her face went from angry to shocked in .3 seconds. "Your arm!"

" 'S not my arm," I managed before I felt my eyes roll back into my head. My wings folded, and then I was falling. And then I was…. Nothing. I couldn't feel anything.

I was fading in and out of consciousness. I was only catching glimpses here and there and even then it was like I was watching and hearing them from a distance. I was on the ground now and still alive, so that meant I hadn't fallen to my death. Al ways a plus.

I got the vague impression of Max tearing off my shirt, saw her eyes go all panicked before she quickly covered it up. She was scared, I realized. Max was scared. Those two words don't even belong in the same sentence.

I faded out again, images of the flock appearing before my eyelids, images of Max. I had to be okay, for them, for her. She couldn't do this on her own. She needed me, no matter the fact that she would never admit it. We were best friends. We had to have each other's backs.

"This feels real bad. _Real_ bad. How much blood has he lost?" Iggy's quiet voice seeped into my consciousness, bringing me back to reality, but just barely.

"A lot," Max muttered. I tried to open my eyes, show them that I was okay.

"Jus' a scratch," I slurred as best I could.

"Shhhh!" Max snapped. "You should have told us you were hurt!" Aah. There's the anger. There's the Max I know.

I faded out for a while, coming back to my senses when I felt someone pressing right on my wound. I hissed in a breath of barely suppressed pain. My hand came up locking around Max's wrist, trying to get her to stop pressing so damn hard. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," She whispered pushing my hand away. "I have to."

And the rest was a complete blur.

**Go ahead and review. You know you want to :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Babies! Chapter four here. Moving right along. **

**I wanted to clarify that this will be a little bit of a FAX story, if you feel like it's lacking in that department. I'm just not going to make it unrealistic. Fang's feelings have to develop. They cant be forced too early on. And I've read too many fanfictions where the author unintentionally makes Fang look grossly obsessed with Max. He's not obsessed with the girl. He loves her, yes so much, but Fang is not obsessive. He's way too cool for that. And especially in these early chapters, Fang and Max haven't really realized their true feelings yet. They're starting to, but they haven't come to terms with it. okay, rant over. Onward with the story!**

**Reviews make my day. Go ahead and be my sunshine.**

**KarleeRay**

Given my history, I bet you can all imagine how much I loved waking up in a hospital bed. Despite the drowsiness of the pain medication, I still managed to quietly freak out. All I can say is thank God the flock walked in when they did. I would have bolted, dizzy or not. Call it a bird kid thing.

Max had made a fuss about more pain medication when she realized I was conscious enough to know where I was and to want to high tail it out of there immediately. Despite my feeble protests, the girl just knew me too well. The doctors amped up my dosage, and I was out for the count until that night. It was kind of nice, I mean other than the fact that I almost died, and that I had a huge painful wound on my side, and that I was inside one of the last places on earth that I wanted to be. Other than those things, it was nice to rest up, in an actual bed, and to be able to actually relax. I mean, it was drug induced relaxation but hey, I'll take what I can get.

By nighttime, everyone was acting more like themselves. I was coming down off my meds and the flock was back to acting like themselves instead of acting like they were walking around on eggshells.

"The girls can have the bed," Gazzy said, proudly. "Iggy and I can sleep on the floor."

Oh brother. You'd think the kid would know by now. I looked at Max, waiting for the response I knew was coming.

She raised her eyebrows, incredulous. "Excuse me, sexist piglet? How about the two smallest people share the bed 'cause they'll fit. That would be you and Angel." Angel climbed up on the bed, and Max pulled back the covers and tucked her in, giving her a light kiss on the forehead. I had the sudden image of Max's lips coming down onto mine that time at the beach. I shook my head quickly, blaming it on the pain meds.

"Yeah," Nudge agreed. "Like I'm too much of a cream puff to sleep on the floor?"

Oh Lord. That kid was a Max in training.

Speak of the devil herself, and she shall appear. I watched Max as she came to sit on the end of my bed. She gave me a wry smile. "Of course the prince gets his own bed all to himself."

"That's right," I said as best as I could, doing my best not to slur my words. "The prince has a gaping side wound."

She rolled her eyes, but her relief was obvious. "Well they sewed you up. You're pretty gape-free at this point."

"When do I get out of here?" I asked, eyeing the walls with suspicion.

"They say a week."

"So, like, tomorrow?" I figured, applying bird kid healing rate to the equation.

"That's what I'm thinking."

"So, Fnick, can I change the channel?" Iggy asked from across the room. "There's a game on."

"Make yourself at home, Figgy," I told him with as much sarcasm as I could muster.

I slept hard that night, but not so hard that I didn't hear Max get up and pick her way over to the bathroom. I heard the faucet turn on, and then nothing for the next ten minutes give or take. I wanted to get up, go check on her, but my limbs felt heavy and sore. Finally, she emerged from the bathroom. I pretended to be asleep as she studied me. After a while, she gave a soft sigh and made her way back to her spot on the floor. What was that all about? My last thought was that I would ask her about it tomorrow, make sure everything was okay.

I was stirred from a deep sleep at around six in the morning by a nurse muttering about my temperature. I started to shrug her off then decided it was probably best if I didn't make a scene. The rest of the flock started to rouse, blinking sleepily against the lights the nurse had turned on. I wished she would let them sleep. God knew they needed it.

"God what time is it?" Iggy griped, hearing the others moving around.

"6:15," Max answered irritably, glaring at my nurse. She raked a hand through her tousled hair, looking exhausted.

My nurse took her hint to leave after she was finally satisfied with my temperature.

Iggy stood, stretching out his long limbs before making his way into the bathroom.

"Is it time to go?" Angel asked Max, who was on her feet by now.

"Not yet," Max murmured. "Go back to sleep." She made her way over to my bed, sat down at the foot of it. She studied me quietly. "You're looking better."

"I feel better," I replied, easily.

She nodded. "So here's the plan. I made a deal with this FBI agent."

Feeling me tense, she shook her head. "I know, but it's not like we have a lot of options here." She was speaking lowly, years of training and paranoia present.

"Go on," I said finally.

"We're going to stay at her house for a little while, just until we get back on our feet."

"What does she want out of it?" I asked, ever the skeptic.

She snorted. "To study us. What else?"

I stared at her quietly. "And you're sure this is a good idea? I'll be fine. You make decisions that benefit the flock, not just me."

We held each other's eyes for a long moment, a thousand silent messages running between us.

Finally, I nodded. "Okay."

I dozed off again after that, sleeping away the last of the pain pills.

Max roused me when the doctor returned to check my bandages. He was extremely gentle in his movements, which was unnecessary. I knew what he would find.

"I don't understand it," The doc said, staring down at my new scars in amazement.

_Welcome to my world._

"Guess I'm good to go," I said finally, breaking the stunned silence. I was feeling more like my old self besides the soreness in my body.

I tried to sit up, but that FBI lady stopped me. "Wait! You're nowhere near ready to move or leave. Please, Nick, just lie still and rest."

I stared at her blankly. Who did she think she was? Telling me what I could and couldn't do?

"Nick, now that you're feeling a bit better, maybe you can convince your brothers and sisters to leave with me," Anne said, staring me down in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. "I've offered for all of you to come stay at my house, to rest and regroup. Max refused to leave without you. But I'm sure you can see that it's pointless for them to stay here and be uncomfortable. But you'd be joining us in a week or so," She finished, smiling.

I just looked at her, not saying anything, which wasn't out of character for me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Max lean against the wall, cross her arms over her chest.

"So, how do you feel about it, Nick?" Anne asked, looking at me expectantly.

My eyes slid over to Max's. Her face was completely blank until she let one side of her mouth droop.

"Whatever Max says," I said lowly, hating the smug grin that had appeared on her face. "She's in charge."

Anne turned to look at her, leaned up against the wall as if she didn't have a care in the world. "I can't leave Nick," she sighed. There was something in her tone that made her sound like she was mocking Anne, like she was toying with her. I had to hide my smirk. Sure I hated it when she used that tone with me, but when she used it on other people, especially grownups, well it was downright funny.

Anne stared at Max, her brow furrowing before my good ole doctor broke the silence. "If you all stay, maybe I could examine-"

Anne snapped out of whatever reverie Max's comment had put her in and turned to face the doctor, cutting him off midsentence. "Thank you, Doctor," she said with finality. "I appreciate all your help." Anne went up a point in my book right then.

"We heal really quickly," Max offered, after the doctor had gone.

My stomach twisted painfully in hunger, and I sat up. "What do I have to do to get some food in this joint?"

"You still have an IV. The doctors don't want you eating solid…." Her voice died out when I gave her a narrow eyed glare.

"We saved a tray for you," Max said simply, completely ignoring Anne. She picked up a tray with different foods mounded onto it and handed it over to me. I dug in, not even bothering to check what it was I was eating.

The food was cold and flavorless, but we've never been picky eaters. You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit, and all. Having been literally starved before meant we never took food at the ready for granted.

"I need to get out of here," I mumbled around a mouthful of food. "The hospital smells alone are making me crawl the walls."

Last night it may not have been so bad, but this morning when I felt more like myself, it was awful. I was fidgety and nervous, warding off unwanted memories that I've tried so hard to block out.

Max looked at me with understanding, before turning to Anne. "I think F-Nick is ready to come with us."

Anne looked over at me, wolfing down the last of the food, and I held her gaze steadily. "Okay," She said finally. "Let me go clear up the paperwork. It'll take about an hour and a half to drive to my home. I live in northern Virginia. Okay?"

"Yeah," Max answered. She waited until Anne left before speaking again. "I don't know what's coming, guys, but keep your eyes open and heads up." She stopped, looking at me. "You sure you can move?"

I shrugged, but seriously, I already felt like I could go back to sleep for a few hours. I laid back and closed my eyes. "Sure," I said.

"After all, Fnick, is Superman," Iggy said.

"Shut up, Jeff," Max snapped, but lifted Iggy's fingers to her face so that he knew she was smiling.

**Be a doll and leave your thoughts in a review. Open to criticism or praise. Which ever floats your boat.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay guys. Chapter five is complete. WOO!... I'm not a big fan of this chapter. I found it kind of boring, but don't worry. We're getting to the good stuff, just bear with me here people! I also added in a few little extra parts throughout. So tell me what you think.**

**Reviews are my drug. Feed my addiction?**

**KarleeRay**

As it turned out, Anne had a really big Suburban. Like say, a Suburban big enough to hold six flying bird kids and their dog relatively comfortably. I got to recline most of the way, though it didn't do much to help the jolts of pain when we hit bumps in the road. But hey, at least there was space.

"Gol, Virginia is shore purty," Max drawled in a makeshift southern accent. She said it in a joking voice, but it was the truth. We had never been anywhere quite like this, out in the country, surrounded by rolling green hills and clear blue sky. It was a nice change.

I glanced over at Max. I had been keeping a close eye on her, which was kind of ironic because she was doing the same to me. She just seemed… a little jumpy lately, a little fidgety. Even now, as I studied her silently, she looked uncomfortable, sweat beading on her forehead despite the AC being on high. She raked a hand through her hair, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the headrest.

"Oh, gosh, look at that," Nudge chirped, eyes practically glued to her window. Her face was glowing as she drank in her surroundings. "That horse is totally white. Like an angel horse." She twisted around in her seat to give Angel a big grin. "And what are those rolled-up straw things?"

"Bales of hay," Anne replied, looking amused. "They roll them like that instead of making haystacks."

"It's so pretty here," Nudge chattered on. "I like these hills. What's the kind of tree with pointy leaves and all the colors?"

"Maples," Anne supplied, no doubt feeling like a dictionary. "They usually have the most color."

"What's your house like?" Nudge asked, without missing a beat. "Is it all white with big columns? Like Tara? Did you see that movie?"

_"Gone with the Wind_," Anne corrected. "No, I'm afraid my house isn't anything like Tara. It's an old farmhouse. But I do have fifty acres of land around it. Plenty of room for you guys to run around. We're almost there."

When we finally pulled up to Anne's farmhouse, I could do nothing but stare. I felt like if I stepped out of the car, I would be stepping into a painting or a movie. It was… impressive. I'd never seen anything like it, not in real life at least.

"Well here we are. I hope you like it. There's a pond out back. It's so shallow that it might still be warm enough to swim in, in the afternoons. Here, everyone pile out," Anne rattled on, oblivious to the stunned silence.

Finally, Max nudged Gazzy to get him to open his door, and we crept out.

"The air smells different here," Nudge commented, breathing in deeply. "It smells great."

My raptor vision was going to and fro trying to take in all the details of this place.

Anne headed toward the front door. "Well, don't just stand there. Come see your rooms." A bemused smile lit her surprisingly pretty face.

The younger kids looked to Max for approval before they started towards the door. And then it was just Iggy, Max and I.

"What does it look like?" Iggy asked, voice pitched low.

"It looks like paradise, Jeff," I said, and I meant it.

A strange look crossed Iggy's face before he nodded and started in after the younger ones.

Max and I stood in silence for a few minutes, eyes roaming. Plus, it was good to just be alone, me and her. Silences with Max were comfortable.

Finally, she snorted. "Who woulda thought," She mused, shaking her head.

I had to agree. From subway tunnels of New York to this. It was hard to believe.

When I stayed silent, she looked over at me. "How you feeling?" She asked seriously, eyes roaming over my body as if she could see the internal injuries.

"Fine," I answered automatically, earning myself an eye roll. "Are _you _okay?" I asked, not elaborating on the fact that I had already noticed something was up, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

"I'm fine," She said in surprise. I leveled my gaze with hers, my eyes telling her what my lips weren't. "I'm fine," she insisted, before marching to the front door.

I shook my head. That girl was nothing if not stubborn.

As it turned out, Anne's farmhouse had seven bedrooms, which was eerily perfect. Not that I was complaining. It was great, nice to have a room to myself again. I laid down on the bed, closing my eyes. I felt exhausted, kind of like I had been flying for hours, and I found myself dozing off until Max came bursting through my door.

"Ever heard of knocking?" I asked, irritably.

Her hair was wet from a shower, and her skin looked about two shades lighter. "Ever heard of locking the door?" She countered, and I remembered that I had gotten the only room with a lock on the door.

"Was there something you wanted?" I threw an arm over my eyes, blocking her from my sight and letting her know that her company wasn't entirely appreciated.

She jumped onto the bed beside me, and I uncovered my face as I was transported back to what felt like so, so long ago, back in the Colorado house when Max would come and jump on my bed in the morning to get me to wake up. I would pretend to be asleep, and she would jump harder until she "accidently" kicked me where it really, really counted. I would tackle her to the ground despite the nauseatingly horrible pain between my legs. From that point on, it usually went one way or another. We either ended up laughing about the whole thing or getting in a long drawn out brawl. I remembered once I had dislocated her shoulder when we were sparring after she had kicked me so hard between the legs that I almost threw up. I had watched her limping around the house, sucking hard on her bottom lip, refusing to cry. Then Jeb had popped it back into place, and Max had given me a dirty look before going into her bedroom and not coming back out for a good few hours.

I felt the side of my mouth quirk up as I studied Max now, sitting beside me in the bed.

She narrowed her eyes. "What?"

But I just shook my head.

Then she broke out into a grin so sudden, so unexpected that my heart gave a little bitty stutter. Which made no sense, none whatsoever.

"Come on," She said, standing. "We're going to explore."

Ten minutes later had us shuffling around Anne's enormous backyard. It was hard to believe that after that long driveway and amazing house, there was still more to see. But there was, and lots of it at that. The sights were nice and all, but I was personally past the "honeymoon stage". Now I was memorizing my locations for escape routes, planning out all of our options inside my head.

"What is that, like a plane hangar?" Nude asked, pointing to the big red building.

"It's a barn," I told her.

Angel's face lit up in front of me. "A barn with animals?"

Total started barking then, and Max picked him up. "Yep, guess so," She answered Angel's question. "Listen you, no more with the barking. You're going to spook somebody," She scolded Total, as if the dog actually understood what she was saying.

"That first one is Sugar," Anne called, trudging up behind us as we entered the barn.

We'd never been this close to a horse in real life before, and the younger kids were practically trembling with excitement.

"He's beautiful," Nudge whispered, eyes wide.

"He's big," Gazzy said, taking a step back, and looping a finger through Max's belt loop for comfort.

"Big and sweet." Anne opened up a box and took out a carrot, handing it to Nudge. "Go on. He likes carrots. Hold it flat in your hand." Carefully, Nudge stepped in front of the horse. I saw Gazzy look up at Max as if he expected her to stop Nudge, but Max stayed silent and watchful. Nudge placed the carrot on her palm, holding her hand flat like Anne said to. The horse sniffed at the carrot for a moment before taking it into his mouth and eating it.

Nudge turned to Max, her face glowing with happiness.

"You guys have another half hour," Anne said, smiling slightly. "Dinner's at six."

It was so strange really, strange how perfect this place was. I wanted to be naïve, for once. I wanted to enjoy this place as much as I knew the younger kids were. This was paradise, perfection. But "paradise" and "mutants" don't even belong in the same sentence. And " perfection" can be a blessing, but it can also be a curse.

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	6. Chapter 6

**Second update if the day. I like this chapter better than the last one. And I threw in a little made up scene. Let me know what you think of it.**

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"Oh yeah!" The Gasman punched a fist into the air as we passed by the pond Anne had mentioned earlier. "I am so there!" The pond _was_ pretty impressive, but then again I couldn't think of anything about this place that wasn't.

"We don't have time right now Gaz," Max said lightly, but her eyes were narrowed as she stared out across the length of the pond. Was she thinking the same thing I was? What was it that everyone said? If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is? Yeah, I think that's it. "But maybe we can go swimming tomorrow."

"It's just so beautiful here. Like the Garden of Eden," Nudge murmured, dipping a hand into the water to test the temperature.

"Yeah and that turned out so well," Max muttered, so that only I could hear. I almost smiled, almost. I could understand Max's concern, but at the same time, I thought we should take advantage of this place while we had it. I had been trying to live more in the moment, instead of thinking so far ahead. What with my almost dying and all.

"Look there are more animals over there!" Angel pointed to even more animals milling around inside their pens. Good God. How many more could there be? The lady was an FBI agent for crying out loud. What did she need animals for?

I realized I was starting to feel a little bit weak and nauseated but tried my best to ignore it. No way was I going to give Max the satisfaction of knowing she was right. I wasn't one hundred percent yet. I just needed to refuel with a home cooked meal. My mouth began to water just thinking about it.

"Sheep!" Angel cried out, skipping in circles around all of us. Her clean curls bounced as she did her happy dance.

I strode up to fall in step beside Max. "Anne is quite the animal lover," I said, voicing my previous thoughts. "Horses, sheep, goats. Chickens. Pigs."

"Yeah, I wonder who's for dinner?" She said absently, seeming unimpressed by the freaking zoo we were walking through.

Score for Max. I had to smile at that one. She was so quick witted, one of the only people on this earth who could make me smile, and she really didn't even have to try. It was just her personality.

I watched her cheeks turn rosy before she marched up to the front, leading us towards the house. I frowned. Was she blushing? Nah. Max doesn't blush, especially without a reason. Maybe she was hot… But if she was blushing for whatever reason, well ... She should do that more often. It was a good look for her.

"Pigs! Look!" Gazzy called. "Come here, Ig!" Gazzy grabbed Iggy's hand and placed it on top of the big ugly pig. "Pigs are so lucky. No one cares if they're dirty or live in a pigsty."

I rolled my eyes and saw Max do the same. "That's because they're pigs," She said pointedly.

Just then, _another_ animal, a dog, came bounding up the hill, and Total began scratching at Max's arms so that she would release him. "Hey!" She yelled accusingly, as she recoiled and dropped Total to the ground. "Total! Stop it! It's his yard! Angel!"

Angel skipped over and grabbed Total by his collar, dragging him away from his barking match with the other dog.

"Since when does he have a collar?" Max asked, eyeing the blue strip of fabric encircling Total's neck.

"Okay, Total, calm down," Angel cooed, dropping to her knees, so she could hug his little body against hers.

I tuned out then, beyond exhausted, and I barely suppressed my sigh of relief when Max said, "Come on, guys. Let's go chow."

Dinner was warm and home cooked so I wasn't about to complain, but I will say that I'm not even sure what it was that we were eating. I got the impression that Anne didn't do much cooking.

Later that night, we gathered in Max's room to do a little investigating. Back in our New York days, the flock had broken into a place called The Institute of Higher Living. Before we got busted, Nudge was able to hack into their database, and Max was able to print out pages and pages of information about us. We had already poured over those pages back when they were in freaking English. Now we were left with a bunch of gibberish since those readable papers had disappeared. How? Good question. Ominous, right?

I had skimmed over the papers myself before but hadn't really gone into depth. That's what we were doing now. "How about we each take two pages and comb through them," Max suggested, as she began to pass out the sheets. "Figure out what we can. See if anything looks familiar or has a pattern."

"Sounds like a plan," Iggy said. "Except for me."

Max's eyes flickered, and she hesitated. "I'll read you out some numbers," I offered, and Max met my eyes with a grateful glance.

I started reading out some numbers to Iggy, softly so as not to disturb the others' trains of thought. Iggy nodded every so often, eyes closed in concentration.

It was a lost cause though. None of this stuff made any sense, and we were doing nothing but frying our brains. We literally tried everything. If anyone would be able to break this code, it was us. We were some witty little bird kids when it came to what really counted. But none of us were coming up with anything, not even me. Not even Max.

"This is impossible," Max groaned, dropping her head into her hands and rubbing her temples hard. I had a flashback to New York, to Max's brain attacks, to probably some of the scariest moments of my life. I can't explain to you what it did to me to see Max like that, to see her scream in agony, and to know there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't imagine what it must have felt like because I had never seen something get the better of Max like that. The girl was no stranger to pain, and she was tough as nails but even she couldn't handle those brain attacks. I remembered being filled with so much anger. Those whitecoats had done that to her.

And it was my duty too, to protect the flock, but how could I protect Max from herself? It wasn't a threat that I could fight off. I was lost. It was the most frustrating thing ever. To see someone you love struggle so much with something, to see them in that much pain, well I wouldn't really wish it on anybody. I honestly thought the girl was dying. And just that thought was incomprehensible. Max and dying was an oxymoron. Max couldn't die. She was way too stubborn for that.

"This is probably a computerized code. If it is, we'll never break it," Max continued, oblivious to my walk down memory lane.

I understood her frustration. There had to be something we were missing. I glanced down at the papers in my lap, reading through numbers that I had already read through about a hundred times.

"But isn't everything a test?" Gazzy asked, voicing my exact thoughts. "Didn't Jeb tell you that everything was a test, back at the school, when we were rescuing Angel? So that would mean we're supposed to be able to break this somehow?"

Give the tired eight year old a prize. Indeed, Jeb had said that, which was one of the reasons this was so frustrating.

"I thought of that," Max answered, shaking her head. "That's what's so irritating. I've tried everything that would occur to me. So I guess I'm flunking this test."

Anne knocked on the door then and stuck her head inside. "Hey guys," She said, giving us a big smile. "Sleepy yet? Krystal? Want to get ready for bed?"

Max looked up at her in surprise, but said nothing.

"Yep," said Nudge, standing from where she had been sprawled out on the floor. "I'm beat."

Gazzy looked at Max, who nodded. "Yeah, we were just about to crash anyway," He told Anne.

"Good." Anne smiled. "Anyone need anything? Before you crash?"

"No we're fine," Angel said, trailing behind Anne out into the hallway.

Max stood there for a moment, brow furrowing, as she watched Iggy leave.

She looked over at me, laid out on her bed. "Tired?" She asked, sitting down.

"Yep," I answered truthfully.

She sighed. "Fang, we have to figure this out. This was the whole reason we were coming to DC."

"We will. We always do," I said, staring up at the ceiling.

She dropped her head onto her knees, rubbing her temples some more.

"Your head hurt?" I asked, instantly on alert.

"No," She muttered, but I had a feeling she was lying. "Just a little tired."

A tiny seed of fear began to settle in my brain. Oh God, please do not let this be happening again. I looked over at her. What would life be like without her? It was unimaginable. Max had always been by my side. I… needed her. She needed me too… I think.

I shook my head. When did I get so emotional?

Quickly, I stood up. "I'm gonna take some of these with me." I gestured to the papers. "Look over them in my spare time."

"Let me know if anything comes to you," She said, pulling her hoodie over her head, so that she was left only in her tanktop. "Goodnight Fang." She gave me a parting smile before sliding into bed.

I swallowed hard, realizing that I kind of didn't want to leave. I wanted to be near her. Why? I don't know. I just did.

Shaking my head hard, I closed her door and headed to my room, trying not to over think all these strange feelings flitting around in my head.

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